Winter Wonderlard II: What A Cowboy!

Back in February I attended the latest Bristol based Lardy Day, Winter Wonderlard II and have been a tad slovenly in posting about it. If you haven't been to a Lardy day they are great fun with a day of games inevitably followed by some beer and a curry! There can be an element of randomness to which game you might be playing depending on how popular they are (I missed out getting a game of Strength and Honour) but my other top choices came in so I was happy (I decided this time to pick Lardy games I'd not played before).

The first of these was What A Cowboy, an as yet unreleased Too Fat Lardies game based on the What A Tanker system but set in the Wild West. Run by Leigh, it proved to be hugely enjoyable played over an awesome looking table portraying the town of Blue Bulls...

With each player controlling a couple of characters the bad guys were tasked with breaking out their leader from the town jail.

The first of my bad guys entered the Blue Bulls from behind the sheriff's office, targeting the jail cell on the back of the building.

Whilst other desperados came in from the side...

Two bad guys move up to capture the Sheriff in their crossfire...

Only to find themselves surrounded!

With the bad guys looking to attack the jail from two sides...

One of the locals hunkers down to shoot down any pesky varmint that comes around the corner from the livery stable.

One of the deputies trys to sneak down the alley by the side of the jail, but comes under fire from one of the bad guys...

The wounded deputy swiftly retreating into cover.

Meanwhile the Sheriff shoots dead one of the bad guys!

Whilst there is a standoff behind the jail with bullets flying up and down the alley.

However another bandit is able to reach the jail...

And using a stick of dynamite blows a hole in the wall freeing their leader!

Elsewhere in the town one of the desperados...

Starts shooting it out with another deputy...

However having wounding the deputy he finds himself attacked in the rear buy more of the good guys...

Who he turns to face down, six-gun blazing!

The dazed ex-prisoner needed help to get to freedom...

Allowing one of the deputies time to rush down the allow and try to shoot the escaping prisoner down!

The deputy however ending up in a knife fight with one of the desperadoes...

Sneakily another deputy moves through an adjoining building, his gunfire wounding both the escaped prisoner and his helper!

However with one deputy despatched with a bowie knife in his stomach...

One of the bandits moves swiftly to attack the other deputy...

Who hightails it over the fence having wounded his attacker!

However he runs into another bad guy...

Who with his wounded comrade in arms...

Takes the deputy down.

Meanwhile the Sheriff runs down a side alley to try and stop the escape, rushing straight into a waiting desperado...

Who guns the sheriff down!

With the forces of law and order all dead or badly wounded, the bad guys have won the day and the path to freedom for their leader lies open...

First off big thanks to Leigh for putting on this game and letting us play over his wonderful terrain. His town of Blue Bulls is an awesome creation and we all spent a lot of time admiring all the small (and large) details of which these photos capture some.

So what about What A Cowboy!? I confess I am not that taken with What A Tanker!, the game is ok but rather limited and after a brief flurry of games soon after it was released I've not seen anyone play it down BIG. Using similar mechanisms it is somewhat odd that, to my mind, the cowboy game works a lot better, is more fun and will have, I suspect, more longevity. I was in two minds about it before playing this game  (indeed I'd not really been interested at all before seeing the game at Gert Lush Lard and concluded that Dead Man's Hand or Legends of the Old West would provide a better Western experience), but now will certainly picking up a set when it is released and hopefully get around soon to painting up those Great Escape Games plastic cowboys I bought earlier this year...